In a major sustainable initiative in the telecom industry, Airtel Ghana has partnered with Ericsson to dispose and recycle e-wastes.
Under the Ecology Management Product Take-Back program, the companies will cooperate to minimize the potential environmental impact associated with the disposal of decommissioned electrical equipment.
The Ecology Management Product Take-Back program is a part of Ericsson’s Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility effort geared towards taking accountability for environmental impacts of all products and services during their lifecycle, the company said. The program ensures that end-of-life material is waste-treated in an environmentally responsible manner.
Reports indicate that world’s e-waste level reached 48.9 million tons during 2012 and is expected to increase 33 percent by 2017. More than 80 percent of this is not treated in proper e-waste recycling facilities.
Ericsson’s program targets exceed the minimum requirements set out under the European Union’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive, where product take back is required by law.
Ericsson provides free product retrieval and safe disposal services for equipment that has reached its shelf life, as part the company’s extended producer responsibility. The program is offered globally, where e-waste recycling is required by law.
The equipment will be loaded at Airtel Ghana’s warehouse facilities and then transported by sea to the Ericsson approved recycling partner in Durban, South Africa. There, the sorting and dismantling process will be initiated before being shipped to the partner’s main recycling facility in Netherlands. Here the final recycling will be completed.
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